Column: Merciless bloggers sometimes hurt wrong people

In the new-age world of blogging, tweeting and "iReporting, " opinions on global and local events no longer belong solely to the professional pundit. Now you, Joe Public, can hold the mike, too.
And sometimes Joe Public can wield a sharp, unforgiving sword that cuts more than the intended victim.
Nowhere is this more evident than when the anonymously opinionated realm of Internet blogging meets the debate over crime and punishment.
In the 21st century, such conversation can become oddly flip when Web users turn a process prosecutors, juries and judges sometimes spend years determining into 150-characters-or-less judgments and sentencings.
I noticed this in recent weeks when reading response posts to various stories about criminals either behind bars or on their way.
Last month, I wrote about a potential loophole that could free Shytour Williams, who was sentenced to life without parole in 1997 after a jury convicted the then-15-year-old of kidnapping and murdering Karen King, an 18-year-old Saginaw woman abducted when she came home for Christmas break.
Internet traffic revved up in response. One user replied, "Ideally this piece of garbage would be tortured until he died." Another wrote, "Let him rot behind bars till the day he dies, then let him eternally rot elsewhere."
Other users chimed in on the life sentencing of Scott D. Perreault. A Saginaw judge berated Perreault after a jury convicted the 29-year-old of felony murder and first-degree child abuse in the death of his infant daughter.
"Burn Scott!!!!, " one user said. Another wrote, "Enjoy your life term inmate."
Saginaw News browsers aren't the only Internetters to draw such a merciless gun so quickly. Michael Jackson's death has stirred up millions of fans but also those detractors who don't exactly side with jurors who acquitted him of child molestation charges in 2004.
Do these criminals - or, in some cases, alleged criminals - deserve such a brutal public flogging? Maybe.
But, in most cases, they will never read these venomous words. Instead, their families and friends, who already bear the burden and shame of having a loved one fall under such dark shadows, are left to deal with the aftermath of public scrutiny.
It's a cruel and unusual circumstance for perfectly innocent people to face sometimes. Unfortunately - and especially when there's anonymity involved - Internet bloggers don't consider this when there's a chance to throw stones.
Most of the time, they hit the wrong target.

Nowhere is this more evident than when the anonymously opinionated realm of Internet blogging meets the debate over crime and punishment.

In the 21st century, such conversation can become oddly flip when Web users turn a process prosecutors, juries and judges sometimes spend years determining into 150-characters-or-less judgments and sentencings.

I noticed this in recent weeks when reading response posts to various stories about criminals either behind bars or on their way.

Last month, I wrote about a potential loophole that could free Shytour Williams, who was sentenced to life without parole in 1997 after a jury convicted the then-15-year-old of kidnapping and murdering Karen King, an 18-year-old Saginaw woman abducted when she came home for Christmas break.

Internet traffic revved up in response. One user replied, "Ideally this piece of garbage would be tortured until he died." Another wrote, "Let him rot behind bars till the day he dies, then let him eternally rot elsewhere."

Other users chimed in on the life sentencing of Scott D. Perreault. A Saginaw judge berated Perreault after a jury convicted the 29-year-old of felony murder and first-degree child abuse in the death of his infant daughter.

"Burn Scott!!!!," one user said. Another wrote, "enjoy your life term inmate."

Saginaw News browsers aren't the only Internetters to draw such a merciless gun so quickly. Michael Jackson's death has stirred up millions of fans, but also those detractors who don't exactly side with jurors who acquitted him of child molestation charges in 2004.

Do these criminals -- or, in some cases, alleged criminals -- deserve such a brutal public flogging? Maybe.

But, in most cases, they will never read these venomous words. Instead, their families and friends, who already bear the burden and shame of having a loved one fall under such dark shadows, are left to deal with the aftermath of public scrutiny.

It's a cruel and unusual circumstance for perfectly innocent people to face sometimes. Unfortunately -- and especially when there's anonymity involved -- Internet bloggers don't consider this when there's a chance to throw stones.